Chapter 14 - The Life Left Behind

I had a dream.

The dream was not so pleasant. I stood before a dead man, his cheek tattooed ‘49’. A dark tower stood over the horizon. It was nowhere I recognized, yet the nearby surroundings were just a scorched field. I looked down, blood all over my clothes, my sword and shield similarly stained.

I looked around instinctively for Grace, Elowyn. I found neither; however, I saw a figure approach me.

It was Ryu, though his armor was different. No longer black, but shone a valiant silver.

“You see that tower over there?” He asked, and he placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. There was no hint of the malice of chaos in his eyes that were present in our last encounter. Instead, they were full of warmth.

“That is the tower of the Goddess. Her home is where all competitors will have to go to eventually.” He declared. “It is the place we will raze together, you and I.”

“There will be no more bloodshed.” Ryu’s voice sounded so heroic, I couldn’t help but admire it. Then I remembered the man I was talking to.

Suddenly, a voice called out. It was Grace’s. I turned around and saw her running towards us.

“Ryu! Razan!” She called out. “It really is almost over. Come on, we have to stop this. For my people, the demihumans, and the elves.”

Another voice. It was Elowyn’s this time.

“I’ll finally get the crystal back for my people. Then I can truly call myself a member of the Arclaneia Royal Family.” She sounded a lot younger. More like someone old enough to be one of my students, rather than someone my age.

Grace then looked over at me.

“Razan? Is something wrong?” She asked, a bit worried. I suppose I did look a little on edge. But for some reason, the words could not come out of my mouth.

“Razan?”

“Razan?”

“Razan, wake up.”

I opened my eyes and found Grace standing over me. I was resting on a small bed in what looked to still be Oren. The bed next to me lay Brent. Awake, though he could have been better.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Brent muttered. “Man, hangover sucks. Especially when you had the stuffing beaten outta ya.” The room did smell vaguely like vomit that had been hastily cleaned up.

“Explains the smell.” I gagged, getting up. Normally, I would have brushed everything off as a dream, but. It felt so real, so raw. Besides, at worst, she’d make fun of me for being silly and asking her about a dream.

“Where are you going?” Grace asked, her tone and expression showing concern. “You should be resting like Brent.”

“To find Elowyn.” I winced getting up; it felt as if my legs were recovering from a marathon run. “I need to ask her something, it’s something between the two of us.”

I finally managed to get up and leave. The last thing I heard was a laugh from Brent. “Something between the two of us, he says.” I gave him a look before leaving.

I wandered throughout the building, and I saw several villagers recovering from the recent attack. At last, sitting on a bench near the entrance, was Elowyn.

“Hello, Elowyn.” I greeted her before sitting down next to her. “...Arclaneia, I should say.” I finished.

Elowyn’s face shifted. As if I said something particularly unpleasant. “How do you know that?”

I felt a bit awkward now; somehow, the answer ‘My dreams’ would not suffice as a proper answer.

“Have we met before? Before all of this?” I decided to ask her. If I struck a nerve with the mention of Arclaneia, then I wonder how much else of the dream was correct.

“If I had to guess, you had a dream?” Elowyn muttered. “What did you see?” She sounded more curious, though I could still detect a hint of bitterness.

“I saw a scorched field, a tower, and I just killed someone. Ryu was there, but he was different, so were you and Grace. But you were younger.” I admitted to everything.

From the perspective of Grace

“Something between the two of us, he says.” Brent laughed. I could see Razan give him a mean look before leaving. I felt a small tug at my chest, jealousy.

“Those two are pretty close,” I admitted. She must have been someone Razan met while on his travels. Though I didn’t see her when he was recovering from his tumble into the river. “...pretty close.”

I noticed Brent’s face shift slightly, as if he was thinking something.

“So what are you to him, then?” He asked.

“We’re friends, we’ve been friends since we were kids,” I admitted. Though I could tell Brent didn’t believe me.

“Friends, what they all say.” He chuckled, an arm leaning over the bed's headrest. “I can see the jealousy written all over your face.”

I felt a rush of heat push its way up. “Hush, I’m a priestess, so I’m above such feelings.” I hated that he read me like a book.

“Guys like him are the ones girls flock to, maybe instead of waiting for him to man up and talk. You should be the one to talk to him.” Brent advised.

“What? But I’m not!” I protested. “I’m getting you some more medicine. You must have a fever to be talking like this.” I was getting turned to the color of a ripe tomato. So naturally, I gracefully turned around and stormed out of the room.

As I wandered the halls, I overheard some talking. I was near the entrance at this point. I could tell one of the voices was Razan’s, the other one was female. It must belong to Elowyn.

“I wasn’t sure if I could tell anyone but you this. After all, this concerns you. Well, it concerns both of us.”

The voice was Razan’s.

“Then why don’t you come with me back to my home city. The homeland of the elves. I can teleport us there. I suppose we can discuss everything later.”

I backed away. What Brent said ate away at me. Did he really like Elowyn that much? But then again, I’m above such feelings. I needed to clear my head and stop assuming the worst. It’s possible all of this could be logistics, maybe from the competition.

I turned around and walked out the door and into the village of Oren. It was still ruined, the villagers robbed of their smiles. Paradise taken from them, they return to the planet. I still felt bad for them.

As I walked through town, I saw a grave for Simon. It had been decorated, and even the local florist gave a few flowers to the deceased illusionist. I remembered the various tales Razan told me over the years back home. He taught at a school, and he had a woman waiting for him.

I probably never stood a chance anyways. Why else was he participating in the contest?

Razan Hamada’s Perspective

The conversation Elowyn and I had came to a close. The dream I had made no sense to me.

“My father will explain it all when we get there.”

Elowyn’s words left me with a million questions I wanted answers to. But of course, I will have to wait. Then again, I always made it a point for students to be patient; perhaps I should listen to my own words some more?

The words Ryu left me haunted. I was soft, too much of a bleeding heart to make it in this competition. I should have killed Simon then and there, or the situation could have escalated unnecessarily.

As I wandered outside, I heard a voice. It was Brent leaning against the wall, standing my superior at the Heroes’ Guild.

“If you’re good to ride. Then we’ll be heading back to Astora. You should come too; you will need to accept your reward. After all, you did stop Simon and saved the town, you even solved the mystery of the missing husband you originally set out for.”

I thought about it for a bit.

“I’m heading to the city of the Elves. But I suppose I can make a detour to Astora for just a little while.” The extra funds could help with traveling. I doubt I was getting any more favors from the village here with how many stink eyes I was getting.

“Don’t let the looks get to ya.” Brent could tell I looked troubled, more than likely. “Sometimes to do the right thing, ya need to be the bad guy for a little while. Sure, Simon was a hero to them; he gave them happiness in a time when there was none.”

He launched himself from the wall and to his feet as he walked by me.

“But Simon was also hurting them. You saved them, even if they can’t or refuse to realize that.”

With those words, Brent left. The sound of Collette urging him to hurry up and get over here moved with the wind.

I noticed Grace in the far distance. I could tell that even she looked troubled. I decided to approach her.

“Grace. You look troubled. Is everything ok?” I asked her.

“Razan,” Grace began, “Why do you want to go back home?”

That question was an easy one to answer. “Well, I have a life I want to get back to, and there are people who need me. Besides, I already told you about Miko.” I could tell she was worried. “But something tells me you don’t want me to leave, and I suppose that is understandable.”

We walked to a nearby hill overlooking the village. It felt as if we were back home.

“Still, what about us? There are people here who don’t want you to go. People you’ve made friendships with?”

Her, Elowyn, and Brent all came to mind. I hadn’t known all of them for very long in the grand scheme of things, but I began to feel as if they were people I had known my whole life.

“But I don’t belong in this world, and no matter what I do, I will have to go back to my own world. Feelings be damned.” I mentioned.

My heart, no matter what. I was set in my world, my home. I couldn’t stay here. I know it was harsh, but…

“We may be friends, Grace. But you will have to get used to me being gone, because that’s what will happen. Once this is over, we’ll never see each other again.”

I had to be the bad guy. Even if just to spare her the grief of losing me. I saw her head droop, so I simply stood up and turned to leave.

“We’ll have to pack our things. We are heading back to Astora for a little bit. If you want to leave, which I don’t blame you for. I can ask Elowyn to teleport you home.”

Yet I felt ever so more hollow.

Remaining participants: 67/100.

Game status: In progress.

Razan Hamada Status: Alive.